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Immigration Reform Must Address Agriculture Guest Workers

Jun 27, 2018

Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ted S. Yoho (R-FL) released the following statement after his no vote on the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act – HR 6163:

“Fixing our broken immigration system and securing our borders is and will continue to be a priority of mine. The immigration bill that was cobbled together and presented to us today misses the mark. While there was funding to strengthen our southern border and language to end catch and release, sections related to agricultural guest workers and incorporating the e-verify system, were left out entirely. This is unacceptable and a missed opportunity to fix an important part of our immigration system that directly affects the Ag community and our economy.

“I submitted language with the support of farm groups across the state and country, that would create a reliable and verifiable agricultural workforce, but it was removed from the final bill yesterday. Not addressing our need for agricultural workers and utilizing e-verify as a way to protect both employers and employees creates a magnet for illegal immigration. Our Ag economy can’t continue to operate in this way.

“In addition to that, the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act did not adequately address the status of DACA recipients or completely end chain migration. It opens the door for amnesty for roughly 1.8-2.4 million individuals under the DACA program and some estimates are much higher.

“Immigration reform is a process, and I will continue to work on solutions that are meaningful and directly address the problems. I feel we could have done better for the American people who sent us here to fix our broken immigration system. I believe that through a bipartisan effort, this issue will be fixed once and for all.”